Biggles Sees It Through/plot
Chapter 1: An Eventful Reconnaissance Biggles, Algy, Ginger and Smyth have volunteered to fight for Finland in their war against Russian and have joined an International Squadron based at Oskar near Helsinki. Out on a reconnaissance flight in a Bristol Blenheim bomber, they come across a Polish aircraft engineer Petolski who is dying of exhaustion on a frozen lake. He has escaped from Warsaw with vital technical papers which must not fall into German hands. After his aircraft crashed in Finland, he had hidden his portfolio near the wreck. Biggles reports this to the British authorities and Colonel Raymond instructs Biggles to retrieve the papers. Chapter 2: Ginger Makes a Discovery Biggles and co. take off in the Blenheim and spend the next day searching one lake after another in the area where Petolski believed his plane had crashed. By nightfall, still with no success, they put down on a frozen lake to spend the night. Ginger can't sleep and so goes exploring. He stumbles on an encampment of some thirty-forty Russian troops. A plane lands and discharges a passenger--it's Erich von Stalhein! Biggles knows he cannot continue searching for the documents with von Stalhein on the same job in the vicinity. So he decides to attack the encampment. By using machine guns and making a lot of noise, Biggles and co. fool the Russian troops into thinking a large force is making an assault and flee in disorder. Chapter 3: Success--And Disaster The next morning Biggles resumes the search. They spot some tracks--made by the fleeing Russian troops. The tracks detour to a pile of snow--it is the wreck of an aircraft! Near it, they find an empty portfolio. Von Stalhein had been lucky--during the retreat, he must have spotted the wreck, and now he had the documents. Biggles decides to go after von Stalhein. Flying ahead of von Stalhein's party, he lays an ambush for them in a defile and takes the documents from the German agent at gunpoint. But it doesn't end so easily. A flight of 5 Russian bombers appear overhead as Biggles and co. get back to the Blenheim off. During the take-off run, Biggles has to veer to avoid a pile of snow. The aircraft skids and crashes. Everyone manages to get out of the wreck unhurt but now the Russian bombers are dropping paratroopers around them. Chapter 4: A Grim Ultimatum Biggles manages to hide the papers in a pool of water which would soon freeze over. They are soon captured by the paratroopers and taken to a citadel near an airbase where von Stalhein is waiting. He tells Biggles that unless he reveals the location of the documents, he will have the others shot in the morning. Chapter 5: Biggles Takes a Trip Biggles agrees to von Stalhein's terms but it is too difficult to tell him where it is, he has to show him. Von Stalhein has Biggles handcuffed and bundled, with some guards, onto a Russian bomber which takes them to the lake where the wreck of the Blenheim is. Biggles now takes them on a diversion, away from the wreck, down a valley and up the opposite slope. On the way, he contrives to stumble frequently and finally takes slips and slides down the valley slope. The guards manage to convince von Stalhein to release his handcuffs and help him climb back up the slope to join the rest of the party. Biggles now seizes his chance. He gives von Stalhein a massive punch in the jaw and then grabs a hand sledge which the guards had used to move their supplies. After an exhilirating toboggan ride down the valley slope, he makes his way back to the Blenheim where he retrieves the papers and then takes off in the Russian bomber. Biggles is determined to return to rescue his friends but it has begun to snow. Unable to land near the citadel, he puts on a parachute and jumps over the building. He lands safely on the ramparts and spots the window of the cell where Algy and the others are. Tying the parachute shrouds to the battlements, he lowers himself to the cell. Chapter 6: Biggles Comes Back Biggles passes Algy a file which he had taken from the toolbox of the bomber and Smyth soon removes one of the bars, allowing everyone to climb out and up the parachute shroud onto the rampart. They lower themselves to the ground, steal a pony and sledge and head west for the wreck of the Blenheim where they know they have a supply of food. Chapter 7: The Avalanche They are near the Blenheim by dawn and resume the journey on foot, but now disaster strikes. Going downslope, they are caught in an avalanche. Biggles is knocked unconscious when the snow pushes him against some rocks. Algy, Smyth and Ginger drag him towards the wreck of the Blenheim but they are spotted by a Russian bomber. Biggles, semi-conscious, tells Algy to take the pistol from his pocket and everyone to lie down, pretending to be unconscious. The bomber lands and two pilots come down to look at the bodies. Algy surprises them and captures their aircraft which is soon heading west for Oskar. Chapter 8: A Bitter Blow Once over the Finnish lines, their captured Russian bomber is bounced by a Finnish Gloster Gladiator. Algy recognises it as belonging to an American volunteer Eddie Hardwell. Ginger climbs on the fuselage and puts up his hands in surrender. Eddie orders the bomber to land on a frozen lake and is, of course, surprised to find that his "prisoners" are all his squadron mates. Eddie tells them someone named Raymond has arrived and has been looking for them. At Biggles' request, Eddie flies off to notify Raymond, who soon arrives in a Blenheim. Biggles tells Raymond they have the papers and cheerfully asks Algy for his jacket. What jacket? It had been lost in the avalanche! Biggles decides to split his team. He would take Eddie's Gladiator and fly back to search for the jacket. If he didn't return, the next person would try and then the next. Chapter 9: "Grounded" Biggles returns to the lake near the site of the avalanche. After spending a night there, he finally finds his jacket the next morning. But now the thaw has set in, and the meltwaters have flooded the lake surface to knee-depth. His aircraft is grounded. Worse, there is a column of Russian troops approaching the lake. Biggles worries that Algy or Ginger might come looking for him and try to land on the flooded lake so he has no choice but to stay in the vicinity. Chapter 10: Awkward Predicaments Ginger shows up and Biggles manages, by signals, to communicate the danger of the flooded lake to him. Using of his shirt, Biggles makes a string. He ties the packet of documents to it and stretches it across two poles. Ginger successfully catches the string with his undercarriage and heads west. Biggles believes his mission is complete and so heads west on foot himself. And now comes the wild animal interlude so common in later Johns stories. In this case, Biggles is attacked by a large bear and gives himself up for lost. Chapter 11: Ginger Loses His Temper Ginger isn't having a better time either. The string and packet of documents detaches from his undercarriage. He is forced to land but bursts a tyre in the process, so now he is also grounded. He finally finds the document and hides them under a rock. Thinking that he might get a wheel from Biggles' Gladiator, he heads east and runs into Biggles being attacked by a bear. Ginger shoots the bear just in time. Chapter 12: Another Blow Biggles and Ginger head back to the lake but Biggles' Gladiator is gone--the Russian troops had come to salvage the Blenheim and had taken away the fighter as well. Algy now comes searching and drops a message telling them to head west. He would return in a large aircraft to collect them. But he doesn't get very far. He is bounced by 3 Me 109s and shot down. At least the three of them are now together, and Algy's Gladiator can supply the spare wheel for Ginger. But when they get to the valley where Ginger landed his plane, they find a large Russian force had picked it for an encampment. Worse, the rock where he hid the documents has been moved. The vital papers are gone. Chapter 13: Von Stalhein Again By the strangest coincidence, von Stalhein has set up camp among the Russians and his tent is right next to where Ginger hid the documents. They hear von Stalhein laughing. He doesn't do that often so Biggles surmises that he must have found the documents by chance, for the second time. Wasting no time, Biggles steps into the tent and takes the papers off his German adversary at gunpoint. They then leave, cutting the guy ropes and collapsing the tent over the occupants. Fleeing from the scene, the find a rough dug-out boat and set off across a lake--their pursuers would have to detour around the shore so they would gain a valuable lead. Chapter 14: Slow Progress The boat leaks badly but they make it to an island in the middle of the lake where they hide for the day. The shore is swarming with Russian soldiers and overhead, Russian bombers are searching for them. But they also see a Short flying boat heading east. Smyth must be flying it, searching for them! At nightfall, they head for the shore in the boat and come across a large building, apparently the manor house of some wealthy landowner. Everyone is weakening from lack of food, so Ginger offers to steal some from the house. Chapter 15: A Staggering Discovery At the house, Ginger makes a staggering discovery: at a dining table laid with a sumptious meal is von Stalhein, but Olsen, a pilot from the Finnish International Squadron is also there. He is describing the details of the Finnish defences to those present. Von Stalhein concludes the meeting by offering Olsen a bounty for the killing of Biggles and his team. But Ginger doesn't neglect his scrounging duties and returns to Biggles and Algy with a veritable banquet of roast chicken, goose, roast potatoes and bread. They feast on the food but then get ready to lay an ambush for the traitor Olsen, whom they expect would soon head for his aircraft which he had parked nearby. Chapter 16: A Desperate Flight Biggles & co. waylay Olsen and intend to take him back to Finland for trial. On the way the party is spotted by some Russian troops. Olsen makes a run for it. Biggles shouts to him to stop but Olsen draws a gun and fires. Biggles returns fire and hits him. They continue their escape and reach Olsen's Gladiator. Biggles sends Ginger off with the documents. Meanwhile, Biggles and Algy resume their escape on foot and reach the far end of the lake. A Russian bomber spots them and drops a smoke marker for the Russian troops. Ginger comes back in the Gladiator and shoots the bomber down and then strafes the oncoming enemy soldiers. This slows them down but doesn't stop their advance, but, just in time, Smyth lands in his flying boat and picks them up. Airborne, Biggles is puzzled to see the Russian troops cheering. Chapter 17: The End of the Cruise The documents are delivered the Raymond. He explains that the Short flying boat was his. Smyth had borrowed it to search for Biggles. An armistice had been declared between the Finns and the Russians--that explained the cheering among the Russian troops. Raymond invites them all to dinner and then they can all return with him to England--there is, he says vaguely, a job in France. Category:Plot summaries